Saint Petersburg and the formation of memory

Memory is the “capacity” (Ricoeur) to recount past time. Past events include textual events. The memory of St Petersburg is the story of how historic and everyday events have been recounted and the history of how a shared memory has been formed from diverse narratives. The city's culture is full of “contradictions” and “contrasts”. In one sense they may be observed in terms of how they are overcome, in another they may be viewed positively as the manifestation of another way of perceiving reality based on difference.